ISIS ‘Being Driven Out Of Syria's Kobane'

How many Islamic State fighters have died in Kobane? That question isn't as easy to answer as you might expect. In fact, nothing about Islamic State's numbers really adds up. How many fighters does IS have in the first place? Even that isn't easy to answer. ISIS is tightening its grip here. Kobane is a Kurdish city and it is nearly surrounded. Tens of thousands of residents have fled across the border, and the Kurdish defenders left behind seem both outgunned and outmanned. PHOTO: Turkish soldiers standby as Turkish Kurds gather nearby to express their solidarity with Kurdish fighters in Kobani, Syria, at the Turkey-Syria border near Suruc, Turkey, Sept. 29, 2014.

In June, the group took control of a sprawling complex that had been the heart of Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons programme, Al-Muthanna State Establishment. There may also have been chemical weapons buried kobane news or abandoned elsewhere, that were not destroyed by US forces or the Iraqi military. Outgunned and outnumbered, they have so far kept the heavily-armed jihadists at bay, with help from US-led air strikes. Authorities declared a curfew in six towns in the southeastern province of Mardin, the Anadolu Agency reported. Hundreds of thousands of Kurds live elsewhere in Europe, and mobilised quickly via social networks to stage protests after the advance on Kobane. Some European Kurds have gone to the Mideast recently to join Kurdish forces. Demonstrators run a water cannon as they clash with riot police outside of the Middle Eastern Technical University (METU) in Ankara. Despite having limited strategic significance, Kobane has become a powerful international symbol in the battle against the hardline Sunni Muslim insurgents who have captured large expanses of Iraq and Syria and declared an Islamic "caliphate". The Kobane battle has raged in full view of the Turkish frontier, testing whether a US-led coalition can halt Islamic State's advance. The failure of Turkey to help defend the town sparked riots among Turkish Kurds in which 40 people died. And as the fight in Kobani in has led to a major crisis in the peace and reconciliation process between the Kurdish Workers' Party-also known as the PKK-in Ankara, more than two dozen have been killed during Turkish protests across Turkey. And, also, the Syrian Kurds have requested Turkey to recognize these three cantons as legitimate polities, political bodies or governments, in northern Syria. Again, Turkey has not responded, at least positively, to this demand. Latest estimated figures from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) suggest 481 Islamic State fighters and 313 Kurds plus 21 civilians have been killed in Kobane since September 16th, though the number of IS fighters kobane news killed in airstrikes is still not certain and could run into hundreds” according to American sources. US Central Command also says it destroyed an IS artillery position, 7 vehicles and an IS building over the weekend. President Barack Obama told military chiefs from more than 20 allies this week they are facing a long-term campaign” to defeat IS, which is well entrenched in a swathe of both Iraq and Syria. Agence France-Presse is kobane news a global news agency delivering fast, in-depth coverage of the events shaping our world from wars and conflicts to politics, sports, entertainment and the latest breakthroughs in health, science and technology. Our message to the international community is to support the Kurdish forces and to stop the terrorists so we can live in peace. Until a few months ago Rami taught English at the El Thawra high school in Kobane. The town was once home to 200,000 people but in the past few weeks it has come under a merciless siege by jihadists from the terrorist group Isis, also known as Islamic State. Given YPG's superior military capabilities, discipline and its large popular support base it makes it very difficult for ISIS to defeat YPG in Kobane, Hasakah or elsewhere. Even with advanced Western weaponry ISIS kobane news obtained from Iraq seem to have not helped the group to seize Kobane thus far. Speaking to Rudaw by phone from Kobane, Muslim said that town officials have remained inside and will not be scared away by the ISIS.